On Fri, 13 Jun 1997, Eric Abell wrote:
 
> >Date: Thu, 12 Jun 1997 23:46:44
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >From: Eric Abell <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Re: Did not rotate hive bodies
> >
> >At 10:21 AM 11/06/97 -0700, you wrote:
> >>Earlier this year some posts talked about not rotating hive bodies in
> >>the spring but letting the queen work her way down. My bees came through
> >>the winter in exceptional shape, no mites. So when I decided to rotate
> >>hive bodies, four out of five already were in the bottom box, so I only
> >>rotated the one hive. It is the only one that swarmed. All the others
> >>are in the second super - and we are not even in the main clover honey
> >>flow. The one that swarmed is still in the lower brood boxes. I realize
> >>this is only one data point and may be the exception, so I will try it
> >>again next year.
> >>Bill Truesdell
> >>Bath
> >>
> >But is that not the reason for reversing (rotating) these boxes?  In my
> area it is a race to have the bees ready for the flow.  If we believe that a
> large population encourages swarming then your 5 hive experiment would
> appear to indicate that reversing can increase the population faster than if
> it is not reversed.
> >
> >In my case, I reverse as soon as the bees are starting into the bottom box
> or as soon as the top box starts to fill with bees. Now, there is a
> tremendous difference in colony strength between those that were reversed
> and those that were not. Is this because the non-reversed were poor colonies
> to begin with or because reversing imporoved the already better colonies?
> Likely both.  When I first made this decision, there was not a great deal of
> difference.  The difference is now great.  Perhaps I should reverse everything?
> >
> >Reversing is heavy work. With a short time between winter and the major
> honey flow I suspect that reversing hives is worth the trouble.
> >
 
 Hi Eric and all,
 
  I reverse my hives. It is hard work but it will stimulate the bees to
work on a oval brood nest again. A happy bee is a busiy bee.
 Timing is important.You need to see a good start on build up.
 I have hives with 4-5 suppers that are about capped off now.The min. is
2. There is a down side. The more you work the hive , you increace the
chance of pinching the queen. Move slow !!!.
 We have had a terrible wet spring in western Washington. US.Even with the
bad weather the bees have had something to do when they could not fly.
I can see a good summer in the fireweed with very strong hives.
 Best Regards
 Roy